Chief ministers in five states - Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, and Kashmir - are busy fighting off mounting political attacks with varied levels of success. Besides Jammu and Kashmir, the chief ministers in the other four states are themselves struggling for political survival. India Today correspondents report on the personalities and problem raised.

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M.P. Jain

May 15, 2014

ISSUE DATE: December 31, 1977

UPDATED: April 6, 2015 15:45 IST

Chhabra, a little-known but prosperous assembly constituency in an obscure corner of Rajasthan, bordering Madhya Pradesh, shot into the limelight recently. It enabled Chief Minister Bharon Singh Shekhawat to record a resounding victory in the by-election held on November 27. Shekhawat won by an unassailable margin of 32,945 votes, with all his rivals, including Ram Prasad Meena of the Congress, losing their deposits.

The by-election was necessary to enable Shekhawat to remain chief minister. The long time to took to select Chhabra was indicative of his desire to contest from the safest constituency. And there could not have been a safer constituency in Rajasthan than Chhabra.

Known for its poppy cultivation, Chhabra took no time in adopting Shekhawat. Presumably, the fact that he is the chief minister weighed a lot with the people who voted en masse for him. Though people in the constituency are rich, they continue to live in a world apart. There is no road connecting Chhabra with Kotah and one has to travel on a dirt track to reach there.

Shekhawat - cultivated votes?

Shekhawat has promised many things to the residents of Chhabra. During the campaign, loans to the tune of Rs 28 lakhs were disbursed among the villages. It is alleged that the collector and district magistrates remained at Chhabra till the polling date.

Several land cases and other matters were settled on the spot. Licences were also allegedly issued to people interested in poppy cultivation. Special instructions had been issued in the matter. Those who had illegally covered more area under poppy were promised that no action would be taken against them. Shekhawat denies these allegations, He says the Congress is talking in these terms out of sheer frustration. The former ruling party has been completely wiped out in Rajasthan.

Shekhawat, however, is more happy over the Janata triumph at Phalodi where another by-election was held on November 27. Phalodi might not have been lost to the Congress if it had adopted a less communal approach while selecting its candidate. The Congress nominee, Punam Chand Vishnoi, from Phalodi was no doubt better known than the Janata winner, Bal Kishen Thanvi, but he lost, by only 987 votes because of the communal approach displayed by his party.

Shekhawat's Congress rival at Chhabra, Ram Prasad Meena, is politically much junior to him. Meena began his political career by joining Sanjay Gandhi's Youth Congress. Here again, the Congress lost, heavily, due to the caste factors it tried to inject into the campaign.

The Congress poll campaign in Chhabra was half-hearted though at one time tension gripped the area when Mohanlal Sukhadia, former chief minister, was stoned at a meeting. Sukhadia was, however, not injured but his brother-in-law, Deena Bhai, lost a tooth.

Interestingly, the voting pattern in Chhabra followed the same trend as in June when Prem Singh Singhvi of the Janata got 33,302 votes compared to only 8,246 secured by his Congress rival, Kishen Lal. Shekhawat polled 40,905 votes as against 7,960 by Ram Prasad Meena.

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